ICSA urges its members to make a difference by sourcing dairy products from local dairies and encouraging their students to do the same.
DAIRIES IN CRISIS.
In less than ten years the number of UK dairy farms has dropped by two -thirds from 35,000 to 10,000. Dairy farm co-operative Arla told its 3,000 members (a third of the UK market) that it is cutting its price per litre by 2p to 24.81p. The NFU says the average cost of milk production is 30p a litre. This means many members will be operating at a large loss.
In the past 12 months the NFU says some farmers have already seen 11p a litre slashed from their price – which for the average producer equates to a £104,000 drop in milk revenue over the year.
Meurig Raymond, NFU president said,
“It is vital that we don’t see this trend continue. We will put pressure on the Government, retailers and processors with the aim of trying to rebuild an economically sustainable dairy industry. We cannot emphasise enough how awful this downward spiral has been for the UK dairy industry.”
NFU suggest helping British dairy farmers by buying milk and other dairy products from the supermarkets which offer a ‘cost plus’ model – Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Co-op, M&S first and foremost.
You can find out more about where to source your dairy in a sustainable way from:
http://www.nfuonline.com/sectors/dairy/ask-the-experts-where-should-i-buy-my-milk/